The Nikkei 225 extended gains in the morning session on the 18th, but its upside was limited. Buying in AI-related stocks pushed the index higher, while markets adopted a wait-and-see stance ahead of the BOJ meeting. The Nikkei 225 morning close was ¥64,662.11, while TOPIX traded slightly lower.
The Nikkei 225 extended gains in the morning session on the 18th on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, ending the morning session up ¥525.86 from the previous day at ¥64,662.11. Buying in AI- and semiconductor-related stocks pushed the index higher, while selling spread, particularly among domestic-demand stocks, weighing on the upside.
The Nikkei 225 rose as much as ¥715 shortly after the open, but TOPIX fell into negative territory soon after an initially higher opening. Market conditions were weak overall excluding AI-related stocks, and declines in domestic-demand stocks were particularly pronounced. Major advancers included SoftBank Group, Advantest and Tokyo Electron.
Trading value was ¥3.618794 trillion, while investors increasingly refrained from trading ahead of a five-day holiday period. Market participants indicated that they wanted to assess the direction of monetary policy ahead of the announcement of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy meeting results.